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Photo Credit: Holly Turner

1. How did you form as a group?

Greg: For some reason, after the old members left, me and Matt messaged Hope the same day. It was pretty cool. We all came together with common interest to play music full time and stuff, haha.

Hope: They both messaged me the same day about joining VISTA, it was super weird. I’d never met either of them but was friends on Facebook with them both, timing kind of just worked out on our side!

Matt: Don’t let the other two fool you. We met on Christian Mingle and Tinder. Swiping right works! On the real, I learned Hope lost her drummer (months ago) and at the time my band wasn’t going the way I hoped so I reached out to her as a stab in the dark. And here we are.

2. How did you get into the music industry?

Greg: I started out with my other band, Here’s To You, in 2009. Been playing and writing ever since, and meeting people.

Hope: I started as a solo artist, I just went by Hope Vista. It first started on YouTube, I think in 2007? Almost 10 years ago. Once I was done with that platform, I moved offline and outside of the virtual world to start playing shows anywhere I could, looking to build a team, doing my own press, the whole shebang!

Matt: I’ve been playing music since I was 9 I think? I always wanted to be in a successful band. I had a pop punk band in college that played Bamboozle and after that a punk rock band that played all over. Both bands ended and I was starving for anyone I could play with. And here we are.

3. Can you tell us about your single “Henchmen” and when it will be released?

Greg: January 13th! This song is baller. It’s a super cool song that really goes all out. We wanted to make a banger for our first song together.
Hope: Hell yeah! We’re all amped. We’ve said our genre is anthem rock, and if anything can define what that is, it’s “Henchmen.” We reaaaally wanted to solidify what anthem rock is through this single.

Matt: It’s released on Jan. 13th. How do I remember that date? It’s also our biggest show with one of my fav.’s Against The Current! It’s a good direction for us to head in off of VERSUS while maintaining new ground.

Hope: Agreed!

4. What was the inspiration for the song?

Greg: Lyrically; it speaks on oppression, and being oppressed, and trying to fight back against that force. Musically, a ton of different bands influence this track, and us in general. This song specifically kinda gives me a Sleeping With Sirens vibe.

Hope: The lyrics definitely focus on the idea of oppression and what that entails in modern day. We wanted to try and give a voice to those who feel that oppression.

5. Who are your musical influences?

Greg: To name a few: Carly Rae Jepsen, Owl City, The Fall of Troy, Jack White, Chon, The Starting Line, there’s a ton more.

Hope: My influences come from three sectors: 90’s pop, classic rock, and modern day alternative, current Warped Tour scene. I also looooove both Pink and Avril Lavigne. Soooo OG early 2000’s bad ass.

Matt: Angels and Airwaves, Brand New, Taking Back Sunday, Yellowcard, Twenty One Pilots, LIGHTS, The oldies like the Four Seasons and the Beatles, The Starting Line & I’m a sucker for stuff in the radio.

Hope: Hell yeah, LIGHTS.

6. Do you have an album or any music in the works?

Greg: Yes! Plenty more ideas we have in the back of our heads right now.

Hope: For sure. It hasn’t even been 8 months since “VERSUS” was put out, so we aren’t in a rush. I think the three of us all have such creative brains that are constantly spinning and wanting to work on new material, so even though that EP is still pretty fresh, we were hoping to get some more stuff out later this Spring. Hopefully.

Matt: We are giving VERSUS a fair run while we continue to write more.

7. What is one thing you want to accomplish in 2017?

Greg: Tour and put more music out!

Hope: Preaaaach. TAKE OVER.

Matt: To meet every fan, to play awesome shows and to also see how many Chipotles we can visit.

8. Do you have any upcoming projects that your fans can look forward to?

Greg: Most likely more shows, but Henchmen won’t be the last song you hear this year 🙂

Hope: We’ll definitely be playing more shows. We’re opening for Against The Current on 1/13, the same day “Henchmen” comes out, so that’ll be a sick way to kick off the year. We’re starting to get into the tour discussion for Spring, that’s most definitely a topic of conversation.

9. What are your social media accounts?

Greg: I am located on social media as @herestogreg. We are located at @thisisvista on twitter and @vistaband on instagram!

Hope: My handle for every social media platform is @hopevista!

Matt: @MatthewVlossak for everything. And no, I’m not Steven Yeun’s stunt double.